10 The Forests of the Ancients. 



customary to point out some of the Mediterranean 

 and Eastern countries as having become deserts and 

 depopulated through deforestation, and although 

 this is undoubtedly true for some parts, as Mount 

 Lebanon and Syria, generalization in this respect is 

 dangerous. 



We know, however, that by the 11th century 

 before Christ, in Palestine, Asia Minor and Greece, 

 especially in the neighborhood of thriving cities, 

 the forest cover had vanished to a large extent and 

 building timber for the temples at Tyre and Sidon 

 had to be brought long distances from Mount Lebanon, 

 whose wealth of cedar was also freely drawn upon for 

 ship timber and other structures. Although about 

 465 B.C. Artaxerxes I, having recognized the pending 

 exhaustion of this mountain forest, had attempted 

 to regulate the cutting of timber, the exploitation 

 had by 333 B. C. progressed to such an extent that 

 Alexander the Great found at least the south slope 

 exhausted and almost woodless. 



The destruction by axe and fire of the celebrated 

 forests of Sharon, Carmel and Bashan is the theme of 

 the prophet Isaiah writing about 590 B. C; and the 

 widespread devastation of large forest areas during 

 the Jewish wars is depicted by Josephus. In Greece, 

 the Persian wars are on record as causes of widespread 

 forest destruction. Yet in other parts, as on the island 

 of Cyprus, which, originally densely wooded, had 

 rapidly lost its forest wealth during Cleopatra's time 

 through the development of mining and metallurgi- 

 cal works, ship building and clearing for farms, the 

 kings seemed to have been able to protect the rem- 



